MBE award for Alison

A DEVOTED community leader has made the Queen’s birthday honours list after years of dedication to her hometown.

Alison Drake, chairman of Castleford Heritage Trust, said she was “overwhelmed” to learn she had received an MBE for services to the community.

The retired headteacher has been a driving force behind several regeneration projects for more than a decade, including bringing Channel 4 to the town for the Castleford Project, which helped bring forward thousands of pounds of investment to improve the town centre and build an award-winning bridge over the River Aire.

Mrs Drake, 61, said: “I was obviously overwhelmed when I found out. It was a bit of a shock, but obviously I was delighted. What pleases me is that local people have supported me and put me forward, so I’m grateful to them for thinking I’m worthy of it. That was a lovely feeling.”